Water toy



y 1946-v v. H. HURT 2,404,729

WATER TOY Filed May 24, 1944 INVENTOR. WNW? ,6. H067 ATTORNEY Patented July 23, 1946 NT OFFICE WATER TGY Victor H. Hurt, Qran s ton, R. I., assignor-to United States Rubber Compan poration of New Jersey Application May 24, 1944, Serial No..537,'117.

The present invention relates to inflatable water t ys of the type having -ppntoon-like members at the s des of the, t y to p ovid a s a z d 01 struction, and. the invention relates more particular y to an improv ment in. wat r t ys 9f t type disclo ed in t e ubbe l Patent No. 13 13 6 The Huhbeu patent is directed to i ata l wat r y such as a swan, having pontoo -l k stabili ng means se ured o a h (side t e swans. body at they lower portion thereof to cause the wan toremain in an up i ht r n ur l pos tion when it loa s on the water wi a mall portion of the body submer d s ubbe t y, however, is not stable in water when the body is lar y submerged.

The present invention provides a rideable toy desi ned toberidden in water key a ild r adult and provides a mount that is stable when the greatenportiqn or the .toy is submerged underthe weight of the rider.

T rideable W ter toy ont mp te y th present invention preferably resembles in appearance a:fo11r1egged-animal, such, for example, as a horse, and has a body, and four legs extending downwardly from the body but each leg terminatesin a large "oblate spheroidal or balloonlike member. These legs will support the weight of the inflated toy, whether it stands on the ground or on the surface of the water, and the balloon-like members act as stabilizing pontoons at each side of the toy when the toy is partly or largely submerged.

One important feature of the present invention resides in the arrangement of the legs and the large balloon-like members attached thereto, so that as the body of the toy is submerged the legs will bend outwardly and upwardly to permit the buoyant balloon-like members to rise at the sides of the toy to the approximate height of the upper surface or back of the body of the toy, to thereby render the toy stable when it is nearly submerged by the weight of a person riding the same.

Another feature of the present invention resides in an inflated water toy resembling a four-legged animal and constructed so that when a person sits on the back of such toy in the water, his legs will hang downwardly in the clearance space between the front and rear legs of the toy. A further feature of the present invention resides in rounded inflated legs which attach the buoyant balloonlike members to the body of the toy so that these legs, when the toy is inflated will be stiff enough to support the weight of the animal-like toy when it stands on land, and when the toy is forced Claims.

,2 downwa d he ater er t e W ig 9. e load. he elati ly f s w l e d wa d nd u wardl und t u ran 9f h l like members. This willhelp to maintain thetoy in-astable-condition whether it is submerged to a small or large degree. l

The above and other features of the :present invention will be more fullyunderstood from the follow ng escr p ion wh n re d n sonneiion wi h th ac o anyin r w g whe n:

Fi 1 i a pers e t ve view Q h rid -a a er toy of the present invention shown largely sub merged in water and with a person sitting Iastride the back of-the toy.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the inflated toy of Fig.1 shown standing on the ground .upon its fourlegsj 3 is a side view of theltoy of Fig. 1" shown submerged .to a considerable degree, and;

Fig. 4 is a iront view of Fig. e

The rideabl e inflated toy constructed in accordance with the present invention may be made to resemble any one of a large aster of four-legged animals-in appearance, and one good construction residesin the inflatable horse s'how'n'in the. drawing and which hasabodyl 6, .a. head 'll, friont'legs I? each of whicli terminate in a large balloon} like or oblate spheroidal member l3, and rear'legs' l4 each of which terminates in a similar balloonlike or oblate spheroidal member i5. The toy also preferably has the tail l6, and the air inlet valve H of usual construction located at any desired point for inflating and deflating the toy. The entire toy may be formed of sheet rubber or of rubberized fabric.

The legs l2 and 14 preferably have the form of hollow rounded tubes that communicate with the interior of the body Ill so that when the body is inflated the legs and the balloon-like members formed integrally with the legs will also be inflated. As the result of this construction the legs and balloon-like members when fully inflated will be sufficiently stifi to support the weight of the animal-like toy so that it will stand erect in a normal position as shown in Fig. 2 upon the land and in the water, when not weighted down,

except that in the water the balloon-like members i3 and I5 will be partly submerged.

If increasing weight is gradually applied to the back of the body ID of the toy so as to force it down in the water the relatively tiff legs l2 and M will spread outwardly away from each other and upwardly in the arc of circles under the buoyancy of the balloon-like members l3 and 15. This will give a large amount of stability to the toy as the body It! rests on or in the water,

3 and as the weight upon the back of the toy is increased the relatively stiff legs will gradually bend upwardly substantially as shown in Fig. 4, to a position in which the buoyant balloon-like members rise at the sides of the body to a surface of the back of the toy completely submerged lose most of their stabilizing effect. Therefore the construction of the present invention is such that when the water-toy is largely submerged under the weight of the rider as shown in Fig. 1, the balloon-like members l3 and [5 will still be partly out of the water so that if the toy leans to one side or the other the buoyant members at the lower side towards which the toy leans will exert an increasing lifting action upon the toy to restore the same to its even keel. The total displacement of the four members l3 and I5 should preferably equal at least one half that of the body [0 to impart the desired degree of stability to the rideable toy.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when the present four-legged toy is inflated it will standin a normal condition on its four legs under its own weight, and when ridden in water it will float in a stable manner even when mostly submerged.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent 1. An inflated water toy comprising a body and four flexible legs extending downwardly from the body and terminating in enlarged oblate spheroidal members which are so connected to the body by the legs that as the body is submerged the legs will bend and permit the buoyant oblate and spheroidal members to rise at the sides of the body to the approximate height of the upper surface of said body and thereby increase the stability of the toy when largely submerged.

2. A water toy comprising an inflated body and four inflated rounded legs extending outwardly and downwardly from the body and terminating in enlarged oblate spheroidal members which are yieldingly held in spaced relation to the body by said inflated legs which are adapted to bend as the body is submerged, the total lengths of the legs and enlarged members being suflicient to rise at the sides of the body to the approximate height of the upper surface of the body.

3. A water toy resembling an animal and comprising an inflatedbody and four inflated legs extending outwardly and downwardly from the body and terminating in elongated oblate spheroidal member the lengths of the legs and the members being such that as the body is submerged the legs will fold toward the surface of the water and the members will rise at the sides of the body to the approximate height of the upper surface of the body. a

4. A water toy resembling a four-legged animaland comprising an inflated body having attached thereto a head and four legs extending downwardly from the body near its opposite ends, and each leg terminating in a large balloon-shape member which is flexibly connected to the body by its leg, and the combined length of the leg and balloon-shape member is such that as the body is submerged said member will rise to the approximate height of the upper surface of the body and thereby stabilize the toy when it is largely submerged by theweight of a person riding the toy.

5. A water toy comprising an inflated body and inflated rounded legs extending downwardly from the body and terminating in large balloon-shape members which are yieldingly held in spaced relation to the body by the inflated legs that are stiff enough to support the weight of thebodywithout bending, but are adapted to bend upwardly as the body is submerged by added weight and permit the balloon-like members to rise at the sides of the body to the approximate height of the upper surface of the body.

VICTOR H. HURT. 

